


The Sweatshirt

by alindy



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Greendale, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 05:46:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/880132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alindy/pseuds/alindy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It doesn't take the group long to notice Annie wearing Abed's sweatshirt. Moments after a single event showcase the journey to the climax of a particular couple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sweatshirt

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully nothing is too ooc, this is my first Community ff.

Troy, as previously anticipated by Abed, was the first to notice.

“Something’s off,” Troy exclaimed from his regular spot at the table. Annie and Abed walked into the room and to their spots, partially ignoring the comment as the rest of the group caught up to speed. “You’re only wearing a shirt!”

“That was a whole 15.5 seconds quicker than calculated,” Abed said, turning toward Troy.

“Man, we’re even better friends than you calculate!” he declared, initiating their handshake.

“Hopefully, I don’t sound too much like I  _care_  but what are we talking about exactly?” Jeff questioned, leaning his chair back a little further and putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

“Annie’s wearing his sweatshirt!” Britta gasped, pointing her finger over at the girl in question who suddenly felt increasingly self-conscious. She shrugged further into her chair and cursed her cheeks she could feel becoming increasingly pink.

“Where’s Pierce?” Annie spoke up finally, hoping to talk about anything besides their current topic.

“It sounds a bit like someone is trying to change the topic,” Shirley said sweetly. Annie shot her a betrayed look and turned to Britta, hoping she would help the situation in some way. Britta’s eyes were currently on Abed, leaving her alone in her endeavor.

“I don’t understand why Abed not having a sweatshirt or sweater is such a big deal,” Jeff sighed, rubbing his face slightly.

“Have you ever seen Abed not wearing a sweater or sweatshirt, Jeff?” Britta spoke up. “I think it probably has to do with his need to cover himself up, hide emotions, bury things deeper down.”

“Or  _maybe_ ,” Jeff responded, sarcasm laced heavily throughout his voice, “he’s just cold. Or he likes sweaters, not everything is something for you to fail at psychoanalyzing.”

“Jeff, Brit-ta, I’d appreciate if you two didn’t start fighting right now, I would much rather hear why Annie is wearing Abed’s sweatshirt,” Shirley intervened, her voice as sweet as sugar but her eyes a sharp warning.

“We weren’t going to fight!” they yelled back simultaneously, looking over at the other and slumping down into their chairs.

“Guys, it’s really not a big deal! Can we please just do this studying for the test and forget all about it!” Annie suggested, opening her book enthusiastically and then looking back up at the table around her. Everyone stared at her with a clear no written on their faces, and she shut her book closed aggravatedly. When it became apparent Annie wasn’t going to reveal anything, they turned their heads toward Abed.

“I’ve been instructed to not say anything,” he shrugged.

“Were you guys shacking up in a janitor closet or something?” Jeff questioned, his words holding both a joking nature and slight seriousness.

“Of course not!” Annie exclaimed. “Abed and I have never done anything like that!”

“You two did kiss, though!” Britta countered.

“Britta!” Annie cried. The room erupted in sounds as everyone looked around at the others, taking in the new knowledge.

“I’m going to choose to ignore that Britta knows this piece of information and not me,” Shirley stated, looking at Annie who suddenly felt guilty. “When exactly did this happen?”

“Western Paintball,” Annie mumbled, another collective gasp happening in the group.

“Why does Britta know this and not me?” Troy noted, clearly hurt. “I thought we were best friends?”

“We are, I just figured it was a c-plot, something not mentioned again, not really capable of developing into more than a spur of the moment addition to a running gag,” Abed concluded, though Troy didn’t seem to be assured by this statement.

“Hey!” Annie squealed, offended but not exactly sure why. Was it because he seemed to be talking about this so mechanically or that she was offended he said it couldn’t be anything more? Why would that bother her, though? She hadn’t ever really even shown feelings toward Abed and all of a sudden she felt hurt. Did he really see her as nothing more than a running gag?

Suddenly, Annie realized her cry had gotten the attention of the room and her eyes widened slightly. The blush she had felt earlier was suddenly back and she sputtered slightly before words even properly came out of her mouth. “Yea, uh- what he said.”

“Very convincing, Annie, but you’re not going to get anyone to shut up until you just explain,” Jeff scoffed.

“Plus, if this is the entire episode it’ll lead to a fairly boring scenario. I presume this will get rather dull exceedingly quickly,” Abed spoke up.

“Not a television show,” Jeff muttered under his breath, but Britta was the only one close enough to hear it and she was still upset with him so she chose to ignore it.

“Ok, fine,” Annie finally began, “fine. I was walking around the campus and there happened to be some guys playing a game with water guns and I happened to get extremely wet. I didn’t realize, however, that I was wearing a white shirt and it was completely see-through until Abed pointed it out and he gave me his sweatshirt. See? Not that interesting, can we study now?”

“I don’t understand why that’s that embarrassing, some random people and Abed saw through your shirt, maybe your bra, no big deal,” Britta shrugged. Troy giggled slightly from his spot but went stone silent as soon as Annie glared in his direction.

Annie smiled slightly, though it felt completely fake to her, and nodded to Britta. It might have not seemed that embarrassing to someone like Britta, someone comfortable in her body, but it was mortifying to Annie. Guys she hadn’t even knew had whistled and catcalled and she hadn’t even understood why, feeling so bare and out in the open. The worst part had been when Abed found her, staring at her for several seconds and then down to her see-through shirt, very blatantly telling her what was visible and not worrying about diminishing any of the details.

What Annie could have used right then and there was a girl friend to tell her not that many people had seen and it wasn’t really that bad, but Abed had simply given her a rough approximation of exactly how much of the student body had seen her and what was visible. Was it bad that part of the reason she was so embarrassed was that out of everyone who had seen her, had been affected by her body, Abed didn’t seem the least bit? Wait, was Annie wishing that Abed thought she was attractive?

But the truth was, it was more than that. Ever since she had moved in, Annie had found herself wanting to be around Abed more and more. She felt calmer near him, fun, smart, he made her, very simply, happy. It had gotten increasingly bad during an incident last week when she had a dream, all about him, and it had turned her feelings into overdrive. All this time she had spent having feelings for Jeff, and now she finally realized Abed might just be the one she wanted and she had no idea how to get him to wake up, to notice. Was Abed even capable of noticing things like that?

“Hey Annie,” Shirley woke her from her reverie, sending a pointed look her way, “I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll go with you,” she replied, standing up and ignoring the rest of the group.

“Oo! I’ll go too,” Britta spoke enthusiastically, practically knocking her chair over in her haste to match their pace to the bathroom.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Shirley asked once they were sure the bathroom was empty and the door closed behind them.

Annie sighed heavily and leaned back against the counter, closing her eyes for a second.

“Not to break the concentration, but how do we know something’s the matter?” Britta whispered over to Shirley who simply shushed her in response.

“I think I might have feelings for Abed!” she blurted out all at once, her face feeling hot again at the admission.

“That would be the cutest thing ever!” Britta stated.

“Very age appropriate,” Shirley nodded toward her.

“But the problem is I don’t know what to do! He’ll never see me like that because I’m not the type of girl he would want and I can’t just tell him because then everything will become increasingly awkward when he doesn’t return the feelings but I also don’t want to do nothing about the whole thing because then that’s just sad and I feel so stupid because I don’t want to mess up this great dynamic and I finally feel apart of this little group with him and Troy and- and...” Annie took in a deep breath, cutting off her rambling and began nervously playing with her hair. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“You’re just in the same position every girl has been in a million times before,” Shirley comforted, rubbing her arm. “Britta, what would you suggest?”

Britta looked slightly startled but nodded her head for a second, preparing her words. “I think you should attempt some certain subtle things to make it clear you view him as more than a friend?” she finished.

“Is that what you would do?” Annie asked.

“Personally, I would try to seduce the guy, specifically if I was living with him, but that probably wouldn’t be the best option in your case,” Britta answered, a sheepish look finally taking over as Shirley gave her a slight glare. “We’ll figure it out, Annie, don’t worry too much about it, we have your back.”

Annie tried her best to calm down, take a deep breath, let life happen as it happened for now and dissect the situation later, but part of her mind just couldn’t help moving a mile a minute. Splashing some water on her face and pushing her shoulders back, she made her way through the door and back toward the study room, but not before taking a quick sniff of Abed’s sweatshirt. 

* * *

The day passed much the same as it always did, but her sudden realizations concerning a particular roommate seemed to plague her mind, leaving her unsettled. Britta said small actions, little things that would help make him realize she wanted to be more than friends, but how does someone do that? She hadn’t really been in this type of a situation before. With Jeff it had been clear to both parties that the other felt something, but here it was so...out in the open.

“Guys, just know that this is going to be the best lasagna of your entire lives!” Troy yelled from the kitchen, his words followed by the loud bang of a pot hitting the ground.

“It better be!” Annie yelled. “We’ve only been waiting over almost two hours for it.”

Abed seemed to be unaffected by the wait and Troy’s words as he kept his eyes on the screen, dissecting every little thing. Annie didn’t know how he did it, it was overwhelming...taking in every single thing, looking at its meaning, the small gestures and nuances she didn’t even notice. She watched something and enjoyed it for simply being something enjoyable, but he watched something and enjoyed it because of the small meanings and hidden intentions she couldn’t even begin to understand.

“You’re staring at me,” Abed stated, his eyes staying on the screen. Annie was glad that Abed wasn’t looking because she was sure that nasty blush from earlier had made a reappearance.

“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “It’s just...how do you do it?”

Abed grabbed the controller and pushed pause, turning toward her and tilting his head slightly. “Do what?”

“Take everything in, every little detail and thing and lighting choice or whatever. It has to be overwhelming! How do you even enjoy it? Don’t you feel like you’re thinking too much?” she blurted out, hoping she hadn’t offended him. Though, in Annie’s experience, it seemed very challenging to offend him.

He thought about the words, clearly the gears in his head turning before he answered. “It’s the same way I see the world,” he stated, a slight shrug.

“Don’t you just get tired?” she asked, the curiosity evident in her voice.

For a second he almost seemed stumped, his mouth slightly ajar before he closed it and Annie saw that same look. His processing look, like he was taking in information he hadn’t quite contemplated and needed to look over, dissect.

“Dinner’s ready!” Troy yelled, cutting off any chance of Abed answering Annie’s question.

She couldn’t help but feel like she’d learned something about Abed she hadn’t already known, and it only made her like him more.

* * *

 “How’s the whole you and Abed thing going?” Britta asked as she slid next to her at a lunch table. Annie looked around quickly, making sure no one else was close enough to hear, but she noticed the rest of the group in the line for food and decided they were safe for the moment.

“I guess...I’m just kinda letting it go as it goes. He might not like me, I don’t know, but I don’t want to be a control freak about it, this isn’t something I want to happen on a schedule, you know?” she explained, a small smile spreading across her face as she realized she really meant the words coming out of her mouth.

“Loosy Goosy Annie, woohoo!” Britta smiled back.

“You know, Britta,” Annie spoke, suddenly feeling nostalgic, “you should go after Jeff. I know you’ve been so worried lately because you and Troy aren’t a thing and you don’t want him to feel upset and you don’t want to ruin the group dynamic or whatever, but there’s always been something between you guys, you know? And you’ve never properly explored it, you’ve slept together, sure, but that isn’t what you guys need. I know Jeff and you are ‘adults’ and you think you don’t need to be all ‘high school’ about it, but I think a little cheesy rom-com wouldn’t hurt, you know? Troy’s over it, you’re over it, I’m way over Jeff...just saying.”

At that moment Abed slipped in on the her other side and Troy entered across from her, halting her monologue. She looked over at Britta to see her a little stunned, at a complete loss of words, but she grabbed her hand and squeezed. Britta smiled at her, so very grateful at that moment to have a friend like Annie.

“I think we’ve missed an important moment, something potentially dynamic changing,” Abed stated, looking at the two. Troy shrugged slightly, making it clear it was alright with him to be out of the loop, and Annie basked in the good feelings around her. She rested her head on Abed’s shoulder for a quick second, feeling her absolute adoration for him and everyone in their family. That’s what it was, a family, and she was so very glad she had somehow become a part of it.

* * *

It was the following Tuesday that Britta asked Jeff out on a date.

“Jeffrey Winger, would you possibly escort me to a dinner this Friday?” she asked. In typical Britta fashion it was mostly spur of the moment, a sudden inclination and feeling she couldn’t control, and entirely unplanned. So unplanned it was asked in the middle of a study session where no one was even studying anymore, the whole group arguing over whose fault it was Chang had gotten the impression sporks were something you should attempt to eat as soon as you were finished using them (he was currently recovering in the care of a lovely nurse from his attempt).

Jeff clearly wasn’t expecting that, so for once he had no quick quip or inspiring speech to respond with. He nodded once and gave her a funny smile, and for that alone Annie felt a sudden joy that this attempt might not be the worst thing she had done. Of course she didn’t know if trying to get Jeff and Britta together would be anything close to a good idea, but she sure hoped it wasn’t a bad one.

It seemed after the excitement of the proposal nothing could really live up to it, so the session ended quickly after that. Annie gave Britta a few congratulatory words before realizing her ride was currently walking away. Jogging slightly, she caught up to Troy and Abed and let out a sigh of contentment.

“That was slightly unexpected,” Abed stated, a look of worry crossing his face.

“Probably because you wouldn’t predict me intervening,” Annie replied sheepishly. “Troy, you  _are_  over Britta, right? I really didn’t want to make you upset.”

“Don’t worry about it, Annie, we’re just friends. I actually have a date Friday too,” he announced, clearly proud of himself.

“Oh my gosh!” she squealed. “Whowhowho?”

“I set him up with Rachel,” Abed answered.

Rachel, Rachel... _Rachel_. That was the girl Abed made a declaration to at the Valentine’s day dance. Suddenly, Annie felt incredibly stupid, how could she have forgotten about Rachel? Her and Abed were going to be perfect together and act out strange indie romances and speak in references she could never begin to understand. All this time she had been pining for Abed and she hadn’t ever even contemplated that, instead of just not being into her, he was into someone else. Wait, though, she was thinking too fast, Abed had just stated he had set her and Troy up.

Abed wasn’t into her, for some reason they weren’t a ‘thing’ anymore and now Troy was going out with her? It seemed kind of weird to Annie, but she didn’t want to question it. It wasn’t like she had been hearing a lot about Rachel around the house, so she expected that was why she had forgotten about her. Would Abed even talk a lot about someone he was potentially dating? She knew Troy would at least mention it, though, so had anything happened at all?

“I thought...” Annie trailed off, hoping one of the boys would understand where she was going and answer her question for her.

“Rachel and I were too similar,” Abed explained. “I realized we were clearly more suited as friends, for a one-off romantic situation we worked well together, but long term it just wouldn’t function properly. Troy and her have better odds of working out, and since her and I were never really all that romantic it isn’t uncomfortable.”

“Well,” Annie singsonged with a smile, “I am very happy for you, Troy. So, I guess that leaves just you and me in the house on Friday, right?”

Abed nodded slightly, holding the door open for her as she walked through.

“How about we expand your horizons with some Chinese food and you can pick whatever you want to watch? How does that sound?” she offered, excitement written all over her face. There was no way Abed could say no to that face, so he nodded again and responded with an ‘alright’ as they both got into the car.

* * *

“Here,” Annie stated, holding out his sweatshirt for him. Abed laid on the bottom bunk, reading through some large book she had no knowledge of.

“You want to return it?” Abed asked curiously.

“It’s your sweatshirt,” she voiced, clearly confused.

“Yea,” he replied, sitting up, “but you respond well to chivalrous behavior, I figured you’d want a reminder of it. When I was Han you wanted the vest as a keepsake.”

“You weren’t really being chivalrous with Han, though, and it is yours. I can’t just keep it, it was a borrowed object,” Annie explained. Something in the way Abed’s mind was thinking was confusing her, why was he making any objection to taking back his sweatshirt?

“Ok,” he replied, grabbing it from her and then throwing it to the opposite side of the room immediately.

Annie nodded her head, feeling somewhat accomplished and proud with herself (a large part of her really  _wanted_  to just keep the sweatshirt), and began her way back to her own room. Something bugged her, however, and she turned herself back around as she met the exit and looked at Abed.

“You know, Abed, I don’t just like you when you’re a character, you know that, right? I actually like you a whole lot more as you,” she blurted out.

His face remained impassive and Annie would have given anything in that instant to know what he was thinking, to be able to see behind his mask.

“You respond heavily to womanizing characters, Han, Don Draper, Jeff.”

“Just because I may respond heavily to those type of characters,” she began, speaking slowly to allow time for her mind to catch up with her words, “doesn’t mean they’re the ones I want. Everyone likes to feel special, wanted, loved, and all of those people did that. I guess they just play on my insecurities.”

Abed nodded and seemed to be lost in contemplation. “You gave me something to think about,” he said suddenly, looking back up at her quickly before turning back to his book. Annie took that as a signal to leave and so she did.

* * *

“I’m back and I’ve got food,” she called as she entered the apartment, closing the door behind her with her foot. Annie heard Abed’s footsteps coming toward her and she looked up at him as she set the bags on the table.

“That’s a lot of food,” he pointed out.

“I figured we could go crazy, it’s a Friday and everything seemed so good, why not?” Annie shrugged. “We’ll probably have a lot of leftovers, but then we don’t have to cook anyway. Plus, we both know Troy is going to want to eat more when he comes back from his date. So, what have we decided on to watch?”

“I thought you could choose,” he stated as he piled his plate with food.

“Really?” Annie exclaimed, excitement taking over her voice. “I thought you didn’t like my movies.”

“Some of them are bad,” Abed admitted, “but they aren’t all.”

“Thank you!” Annie smiled to herself, feeling elated. “Abed, I want you to know that...”

She cursed herself silently for even beginning to talk, where in the world could she possibly go from there? She wasn’t brave enough to say anything she really meant and now he was staring at her like she’d gone crazy which, admittedly, she kind of had.

“I just want you to know that I would much rather have you pick the movie, I like hearing you dissect films,” Annie stated. It was evident Abed knew that wasn’t what she was going to say, but he didn’t question her as he nodded and made his way back over to the television area. She sat down in her chair, making herself comfortable and preparing herself for the movie to begin, but it felt wrong.

She had backed out, that much was clear, and now she couldn’t help but feel regretful about the whole thing. Britta would have been able to say it, she told herself, but she wasn’t as strong as Britta. Annie suddenly felt furious with herself; why couldn’t she just admit it? She had said she was just going to go along with the flow, see what happens, but at some point that had to end, she had to take a stand and do something about it all.

“Actually, no,” Annie spoke out, taking the controller from Abed and pressing pause. She stood up, her body naturally pacing as her hands whipped around her body. “The thing is, I like you, like, like you more than a friend. And not just when you’re playing Batman or Han or Don Draper but when you’re you! I like you as you! I like how much fun we have together and like how creative you are and how smart! I’ve been freaking out forever trying to figure out a good way to tell you but I didn’t want to mess with the group and I didn’t think you would even ever like me back but the truth is, yes, I like you.”

Her words and body stopped all at once and, though Annie felt incredibly relieved to have spoken and said everything she had, she also felt nervous. There was no way to pretend the words hadn’t come out or meant what they did. She was stuck with them out there in the silence with absolutely no way to take them back. Her heart practically exploded as she looked up at Abed for the first time.

“I think you found your way to tell me,” he commented, picking the controller back up and pressing play.

“That’s all you have to say?” she cried.

Abed looked at her, his face clear of emotion, and paused the movie again. He stood up and made his way toward her so they were on a more even plane. “You only think you like me because everyone else is out on dates tonight and you’re home with me. It’s like when shows create couples because they simply have characters left and they realize an episode or two later that no one can get behind it.”

“So, you think I just admitted I liked you because we’re the only two left, with the exception of Pierce, but let’s be serious here, and that we don’t even make any sense at all? Personally I think we make a lot of sense and I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. I know Jeff calls you a robot all the time, but I’ve never even believed it a little bit for a single second until now. I’m not a writer of a television show, Abed, my feelings are my own, I’m not creating some plot for the sake of doing it,” Annie professed. She grabbed her plate of food and stormed into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Sitting herself down onto her bed, Annie angrily bit into an egg roll. This wasn’t good, now she was stress-eating which was how she had gotten into her weight problem during her rehab period. Annie wasn’t a fool, she knew Abed wasn’t a ‘typical’ guy, but who in their group was typical anyway? They were all overly co-dependant and weird beyond belief, but they were a family, except now she potentially messed up the whole dynamic by simply admitting her feelings.

Maybe that was a little over dramatic, though. Abed didn’t seem to care about her feelings as she yelled them out to her, maybe he would let the whole thing slide and they could forget about it. Except she didn’t want to forget about it. Annie wanted to talk about it seriously, wanted to make it clear that what she felt was real. She didn’t just feel lonely because if she did she could go to any number of people and she knew they wouldn’t turn her away, but she wanted Abed.

“Annie?” his voice rang through the door following a small knock. “Would you open the door please?”

He was waiting at the other side of the door as she opened it and didn’t move as she came in full view. “I like watching you,” he stated.

“Excuse me?” she asked, confusion, irritation, and curiosity all coming together as she spoke.

“I usually observe everything as a third party. For the most part, people think I’m strange and don’t like to see if there’s anything more, but it hasn’t ever bothered me much. I figured I was more of a director, out on the skirts of things, so sometimes I still have to adjust to being apart of the action. I like being apart of it when I’m with you and when I’m not apart of it I like observing you. I’m a robot, but you feel everything, you’re practically the heart of the group. I don’t know how you do it, feelings make everything more complex,” Abed revealed.

“Abed,” she spoke softly, putting a hand on his arm, “you’re not a robot. A robot wouldn’t sit 26 hours for a study for me or make me buttered noodles when I’m sick.”

“It’s nice that you think that,” he nodded.

“I know it,” she began speaking, her horrendous british accent in place. She put her hand over his heart and looked up at him, continuing with her impersonation. “Before I met you my life was ordinary, govna’, but you made it so much better. You think you can’t feel things but the truth is, you feel more than anyone else. You feel so much it becomes overwhelming and someone who didn’t feel wouldn’t save all those planets and alien races. The way you see the world, Inspector, changed the way I see it. I could never thank you enough.”

“We don’t have the time for this,” Abed replied, playing along.

“We have all the time in the world, don’t you remember?”

“I suppose we do,” he agreed. Abed stepped forward slightly, tilting his head for a second and looking into her eyes. Annie took her hand from his chest and moved it up to the back of his neck, but had no need to pull him closer as he grabbed her waist and met his lips with hers.

Was it wrong that they seemed to confess the most about themselves in other characters? Maybe it wasn’t perfect, but it was the way they worked and what was normal anyway? The important thing was that they had found each other, and as Annie let out a slight whimper as he deepened the kiss, they both knew with the other was where they wanted to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally planned on this being a really short snippet of this event where Annie was wearing Abed's sweatshirt and a kind of ambiguous, 'will they won't they' ending but my mind and hands had different plans as they just couldn't seem to stop typing. This is my first Community and Annie/Abed fic, so I'd really appreciate your feedback!


End file.
